Wire-fence machine.



No. 698,533. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

A. C. MILLS &. G. R. LAMB.

WIBE FENCE MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 13, 1901.) (floy llo h) 2 Sheets-Shaat I.

Patented Apr. 29; I902.

A. c. MILLS & a. n. LAMB. I

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 13, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

ANSON C. MILLS, OF JACKSON, AND GEORGE R. LAMB OF HUDSON, Q

' MICHIGAN.

WlRE- -FENC lE MACHINE.

srEcIFIcATIoN formingpart of Letters Pa e No. 698,533, dated April 29, 1902. Application filed December 13,1901. Serial No. 85,786. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANSON C. MILLS, re-

siding at Jackson, county of Jackson, and

GEORGE E. LAMB, residing at Hudson, in the county of'Lenawee, State of Michigan, citizens of the UnitedStates, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire- Fence Machines and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact dcto scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for making wire fence, and more particularly to a machine for attaching at the intersection of the wires of a fence the fastening shown in United States Patent to George R. Lamb, No. 636,535, dated November 7,189 9, on wire fence locks; and its object is to provide a machine for rapidly and automatically attaching said fastenings to a wire fence and to provide the devicewith certain new and useful features, hereinafter more fully de scribed, and particularlypointed out in the ing rolls arrangedin pairs, between which the wires forming the fence are passed, and means coactin g with theserolls to bend and form the fastenings in place at the intersections of the wires, together with means for placing the blanks of which these fastenings are formed in place to be operated upon, and in the combination and arrangement of the various ele- 3 5 ments of the machine, as will more fully appear by reference to theaccoinpanying draw- 1 provided with studs and rolls 1 to engage the said; grooves.

ings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device en bodying our invention, with parts broken tical section at right angles to the shaft; Fig.

7, the same in vertical section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 a detail of the means for operating the blank-feeding means.

away to show the construction; Fig. 2, an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3, an enlarged vided with an annular T-slot D", in which slot are adj ustably inserted't-he heads of bolts D, which bolts passthrough openingsin the flange D, whereby the flanges may be adjusted and held in fixed relation to each other. On

the shafts are'two pairs of rolls E E E"E for each longitudinal wire of the fence, it being understood that the shafts shown are of suit able length and journaled in the frame at both ends and the rolls shown, together with the I m echanism coactin g therewith, d uplicated for each longitudinal wire in the fence. These rolls are all fixed on the respective shafts and rotate therewith and are provided with circumferential and transverse grooves to receive and guide the various wires comprising the fence. At the respective sides of the rolls E E are adjustable and non-rotative cams F and F. These cams are held and adjusted by rods G, pivoted to the cams at one end and extending through openings in plates H, fixed on the frame. These rods are pro vided with adjusting-nuts H to longitudinally adjust the rodsin the plates. The cams F are provided with groves F for operating a former I, radially movable in the rollE and The cams F have similar grooves F to operate the grippersJ by means of slides J, radially movable in the roll E andprovided with studs androlls J, engaging said grooves and connected to the grippers by suitable connecting-rods J. These grippers J consist of lovers pivoted in suitable yokes at the opposite sides of therolls E 5 and adapted to move toward and from each other at their outer ends. Saids cams F also have projections F on their peripheries to operate a former K, radially movable in the roll E and provided with rolls K to engage loo Therespective pairs of 55 said projections and a retracting-spring K to move the former inward. The formers I and K are each bifurcated at their outer ends to pass each side of the longitudinal wires L of the fence being made.

M represents one of the transverse wires of the fence, which wires are supplied to the machine in any convenient manner and are received upon a yielding hook M, pivoted on the roll E and yieldingly held in place by a spring M. The blanks are staple-formed pieces of wire and are fed to the machine opposite each pair of rolls upon slides N, upon which they are retained and released, one by one, by means of a spur-wheel N, having teeth adapted to pass between the respective blanks and mounted on a shaft N, extend-v teeth as the wheel N, a pawl P engaging the wheel 0 and operated to move the same one tooth at a time by means of a lever P, pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end connected to the pawl by a rod P and provided at the other end with a stud and roll engaging a groove in a cam P on the shaft A.

In the roll E is a radially-movable presser R to engage and hold the wires at their point of intersection during the process of forming the fastening around the same. In said roll is also a presser R, arranged at an inclination to the presser R and also spring-actuated to engage the top of the blank and hold it from slipping out of place when being formed. S S are the springs for operating these pressers. To enable the insertion of these various moving parts in the rolls and to furnish suitable bearings for the same, detachable die-blocks T are provided, having suitable recesses and openings, as shown.

The rolls E E are the finishing-rolls and for this purpose are provided with suitable "dies Q Q, suitably recessed to properly finish the formation of the fasteners V. We have shown one set of elements coacting with the rolls. This would space the transverse wires the circumference of the rolls apart. It is obvious that these coacting parts in the rolls could be duplicated and the cams changed to correspond and the wires spaced closer without changing the essence of our invention.

The operation of our device is as follows: By adjusting the coupling-flanges D D the respective pairs of rolls are adjusted to properly engage the fastenings with the dies of the finishing-rolls, and by properly adjusting the various cams the following operations will be performed: As the transverse wire M, held by the hooks M, reaches the position shown in Fig. 1 the cam P turns the wheel N one tooth and drops a blank astride the longitudinal wire and behind the transverse wire M. When the parts reach the position shown in Fig. 3, the pressers R R ongage the wires and blank and hold them firmly during the forming process of these rolls, the first movement of which is that the former I is moved out by the cam F and held out for a time, or during the next two movements. This carries the ends of the fasteners outward at each side of the longitudinal wire and outside the same, bending the fastener laterally when it contacts the transverse wire. The grippers J now approach each other as the cam-grooves F force the slides J outward. This crosses the ends of the fastener outside the longitudinal wire L. The former K is now moved outward by the projections F and engages the ends of the fastener, carrying them downward at each side of the longitudinal wire. The fastener now passes to the finishing-rolls, when the dies Q Q therein engage it and clench the ends of the fastener beneath the longitudinal wire and press the entire fastener into the finished form.

The described operation of the machine is continuously repeated one or more times at each revolution of the shafts, according to the number of sets of devices and cam movements associated with the rolls.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim and desire to seen re by Letters Patent, is V 1. In combination with means for holding crossed wires, oppositely moving formers adapted to pass at the respective sides of one of said wires, grippers moving transversely to the movement of the formersfand means for operating the formers and grippers, substantially as described.

2. In combination with means for holding crossed wires, an upwardly-acting former, horizontally-acting grippers, a downwardlyacting former, and means for operating the formers and grippers, substantially as described.

3. The combination of spring actuated "pressers to hold crossed wires and a stapleshaped fastening, an upwardly-acting reciprocatin g former,horizontally-acting grippers, a downwardly-acting reciprocating former, and earns to operate the formers and grippers, substantially as described.

4c. In combination with means for holding crossed Wires and a staple-shaped fastener, a former moving at each side of one of said wires to bend the ends of the staple in one direction, grippers moving toward each other to cross the ends of the fastener, a former acting oppositely to the first-named former to bend the ends of the staple in the other direction, and means for operating said formers and grippers, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a pair of rolls, means for rotating the rolls simultaneously, a springactuated presser in one of the rolls, radiallymovable and oppositely-acting formers in the respective rolls, transversely-acting grippers mounted on the rolls, and non-rotating cams to operate the formers and grippers, substantially as described.

ICC

IIO

ers in the upper roll to engage the Wires and a fastener-blank, a radially-movable former in the lower roll, grippers pivoted on the upper roll, a radially-movable former in the upper roll, non-rotative cams to operate the formers and grippers, and means for adjusting and holding the cams, substantially as described.

8. The combination of a pair of rolls adapted to engage crossed wires, formers and grippers for bending the fasteners mounted on said rolls, non-rotative cams for operating said formers and grippers, means for supplying fasteners to the rolls, a second pair of rolls, finishing-dies in the last-named rolls,

and means for synchronizing the rotation of the respective pairs of rolls, substantially as described.

9. In combination with a pair of rolls adapted to engage crossed wires, a detachable block in one of said rolls, and reciprocating formers and pressers extending through said block, and retained in place thereby, substantially as described.

10. The combination of a pair of rolls having fastener-forming means attached, a second pair of rolls having finishing-dies attached, worm-gearing to drive each separate pair of rolls,separate shafts to operate the respective worm-gears, a collar on one shaft having an annular T-slot, a collar on the other shaft having openings, and bolts passing through the. openings in said collar and having heads adj ustably engaging the T-slots in the other collar, substantially as described.

11. The combination of a pair of rolls having circumferential and transverse grooves, spring-actuated pressers in the upper roll to engage the wires and a fastener, radiallymovable formers in the lower roll having outwardly-projecting' studs, non-rotating cams engaging the studs, means for ad usting said cams, grippers pivoted on the upper roll, radially-movable'slides in said roll and having outwardly-projecting studs, rods connecting the slides and grippers, non-rotative cams engaging the studs,means for adjusting said cams, a radially-movable former in the 'upper roll and having a bifurcated outer end it and laterally-projecting studs, and projections on the last-named cam to engage the said studs, substantially as described.

12. The combination of a pair of rolls having circumferential grooves to engage a longitudinal wire, a hook on the lower roll to engage a transverse wire, aslide to convey staple shaped fasteners, a shaft near the slide, a spur-wheel on the shaft and engaging the fasteners, a ratchet-wheel onsaid shaft,

a reciprocating pawl engaging said wheel, and a cam to operate the pawl, substantially as described.

13. The combination of a pair of rolls, reciprocating formers and grippers mounted on said rolls, non-rotating and adjustable cams to operate the formers and grippers, rods pivoted to the cams at one end, and extending through fixed plates at the other ends, and adj Listing-nuts on said rods, whereby the cams are adjusted, substantially as described.

14. In a wire-fence machine the following means for forming and attaching a fastener: a spring-actuated presser to hold the fastener-blank, a reciprocating former to bend the ends of the blank laterally in one direction, another reciprocating former to bend the ends of said fastener laterally in the opposite direction, a pair of grippers to cross the ends of the fastener after the first bending and before the second bending, a pairof finishing-dies to clench the ends of the fastener and finish forming the fastener, and means for operating the formers, grippers, and dies, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ANSON C. MILLS. GEORGE E. LAMB.

Witnesses:

RICHARD A. HOBART, IRA L. EVANS. 

